Brain: PC virus
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 January 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1986, 'Welcome to the dungeon' was the message that flashed up on computer screens.
Brain is thought to be the first virus for personal computers.
It spread around the world and became infamous when it was featured in newspapers and magazines.
Amjad Farooq Alvi told Gill Kearsley in 2023 how he and his brother, Basit, came to develop this virus from their shop in Lahore, Pakistan.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
(Photo: IBM PC Credit: Bettman/Getty)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast, The Traitors Uncloaked. |
| 0:12.7 | But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's Saturday bonus episodes, |
| 0:18.2 | The Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Rylan, and comedy specials |
| 0:22.2 | from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffle and Rommasheranganathan. |
| 0:26.0 | However, and maybe I'm biased, it's really all about the traitors uncoaked. |
| 0:30.3 | So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts, listen only on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:39.8 | Hi, this is Witness History from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:44.1 | Now, if this is one of your favourite podcasts already, feel free to skip ahead a little bit. |
| 0:48.8 | But if you're listening for the very first time, welcome. |
| 0:51.9 | We're the podcast that takes you back to a moment in history by speaking |
| 0:55.5 | to those who were there. Episodes are just nine minutes long and come out every weekday. |
| 1:01.3 | If that sounds like something you'd listen to, hit subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts |
| 1:06.3 | and turn on your notifications so you never miss an episode. |
| 1:14.9 | It's 40 years since the creation of a computer virus known as brain. |
| 1:18.0 | Jill Kursley is taking you back to 1986 when the frightening phrase, |
| 1:19.9 | Welcome to the Dungeon, |
| 1:21.3 | popped up on people's personal computer screens. |
| 1:28.4 | I strongly believe in using the given resource by God, which is our brain. |
| 1:36.2 | That is why I kept my company name also brain. |
| 1:39.6 | I'm not very intelligent, but I want to use my brain. |
| 1:43.0 | My childhood was mostly spent with my three brothers. |
... |
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